Passing the Test of Positive Circumstances

When I studied Master's "Teaching the Fa in the City of Chicago," I was not very clear about what Master meant by mentioning "a different sort of test for you" in:

"...whether the change in the state of society is negative or positive, or, put another way, whether what comes about is bad or good, it is a test for our Dafa disciples all the same, and not a reason to become content. If things really do change for the better, it will be a different sort of test for you..." ("Teaching the Fa in the City of Chicago")

It was only after I studied Master's new article "The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be," that I understood this part of the Fa (law or principle, teachings in Falun Gong). And it also reminded me of what Master said regarding changes to our environment, whether good or bad.

All of our fellow practitioners are familiar with being tested and being placed in awkward situations. Many of us have experienced it personally and some of us are still enduring this kind of test. Especially after Master had enlightened us from different perspectives, we gradually came to a clear understanding of why we had to go through the test of bad circumstance. It is because we Falun Dafa practitioners still have some fundamental attachments. That's why the old forces used these loopholes as excuses for the persecution. As a result, those who could not pass the test were "transformed." Even though many of them have returned to their own cultivation path from their detour, the lessons that we learnt were very bitter.

As to the recently improving situation, Master said,

"As far as how things are now, in the course of the cosmos's Fa-rectification and Dafa disciples' validating of the Fa, gigantic changes have been effected in the circumstances of the persecution that arose on the Dafa disciples' path of cultivation. The cultivation environment and the perceptions people have are both undergoing changes on a fundamental level." ("The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be")

The key issue is that "the different sort of test" ensued accordingly. Master also pointed it out that,

"And yet a small number of students-veteran students, even-have to differing degrees exhibited a despondent state and slackened in their resolve to be diligent."

He also pointed out the fundamental reason for this happening.

What can we see from here? No matter if it was the bad environment that made the practitioners "transform" or the test of cultivating in a favourable environment that made the practitioners slacken in their resolve to be diligent, the key point is that we still have human attachments. As a result, the evil makes further use of the loopholes to achieve its same evil purpose to eliminate the practitioners' will - the bad situation made them pessimistic, and

"...they all aim to break the will of those who cultivate in a righteous Fa." ("Path" from Essentials for Further Advancement II).

The favourable situation made them optimistic and "slackened in their resolve to be diligent." It also made them take a detour. In facing negative situations, some fellow practitioners could hardly pass the test because of their strong attachments. Similarly, in facing positive situations, some students, "didn't realise that they had subtle attachments or were being interfered with by their own notions," ("The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be") and they failed to understand that they were facing a test. So the test of positive circumstances is also very serious.

With the positive situation improving, this kind of test will become more and more prominent. At the same time, when the situation is getting better because of the fact that the practitioners are validating Falun Dafa, we are also facing a test of the same kind. I think this is also what fellow practitioners have to pass, because we already understand the truth of what Master told us: "The whole process of cultivation is gradually getting rid of attachments." ( Zhuan Falun)